Why Ballmer wasn’t at the Obama tech dinner

You may have noticed and pondered the absence of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer at the Obama technology titans dinner. The explanation is rather simple, Ballmer isn’t based in Silicon Valley.

But given that the dinner is reported as being a discussion of the president’s efforts to promote innovation, surely you would still extend an invite to the CEO of an industry giant when virtually every significant player in the industry is in attendance? Apparently not.

It is worth noting that Ballmer and Obama did meet in January to discuss expanding U.S. business interests in China. Maybe both felt twice in a couple of months was just a little too frequent.

Of course The Oatmeal had other ideas:

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